History
Name	Ambrose Light
Builder	Waldoborough, Maine
Laid down	1857
Captured	1885
General characteristics
Class & type	brigantine
Tons burthen	215
Armament	one 60 pound cannon

Ambrose Light was abrigantine, operated byColombian rebels during theColombian Civil War of 1885.^[1][2] It was captured by theUSSAlliance as a suspected pirate vessel in 1885.^[3] The accusation ofpiracy was rejected by a court of law.

Capture ofAmbrose Light
Part of theColombian Civil War
Watercolor of USSAlliance
Date April 24, 1885 Location offColombia,Caribbean Sea Result Ambrose Light and Colombian rebels captured.
Belligerents
United States	Colombianrebels
Commanders and leaders
Lewis Clark	unknown
Strength
1gunboat	1brigantine
Casualties and losses
none	60 captured 1 brigantine captured

On April 24,Commander Lewis Clark, of theSouth Atlantic Squadron, was sailing toCartagena, on theCaribbean coast of Colombia, when the lookouts aboard theAlliance sighted the one-gunAmbrose Light. It was flying a strange flag featuring a red cross over a white background so the Americans assumed the vessel was apirate ship. A chase began. The Americans were preparing to fire a shot over the vessel's bow when a Colombian ensign was observed and theAmbrose Light came to a halt. Commander Clark putLieutenant M. Fisher, and a boarding party, on the rebel ship and it was found to have been armed with one cannon and sixty heavily armed sailors. A large cache of ammunition was also discovered. The Colombians revealed theirletter of marque from the rebel leaderPedro Lara, giving the men ofAmbrose Light permission toblockade Cartagena. Commander Clark disregarded this and took the rebels prisoner and the brigantine as a prize. The ship was put under the command of Lieutenant Fisher with ten others and sent to be condemned inNew York. After arriving on June 1, astowaway was found, starving to death, hiding behind some casks in the cargo hold. The man immediately received medical attention.

Following the court proceedings, it was agreed thatAlliance had lawfully seized the rebels as pirates because Pedro Lara, as a rebel, had no right to commission warships.

After the legal decision of theUnited States District Court inNew York, the ship was returned to her Colombian owners, in return for costs. Judge Brown ruled that the ship could legally be used to transport troops between Colombian ports during the Colombian Civil War.^[4] When fighting broke out in Cartagena, AmericanSecretary of StateThomas F. Bayard releasedAmbrose Light and her crew.^[1][2]

This incident was the basis for a decision incase law that defines who can be called apirate in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

• West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations of the United States

• Oppenheim, Lassa (2006).International law: a treatise, Volume 1. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 1584776099.

• Pirate ships
• Vessels captured by the United States Navy
• United States maritime case law
• United States piracy case law
• United States Navy in the 19th century
• 1885 in Colombia
• 1885 in the United States
• Maritime incidents in April 1885
• Battles and conflicts without fatalities
• Piracy in the Caribbean
• Brigantines

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